Computational Modelling of Movement of Water Soluble Pollutants Through Soil
Keywords:
computational domain, porous medium, permeability, dye solution, pollutant dispersionAbstract
Most heuristic studies of hydrogeology connected with the study of water flow pattern in the ground that uses the knowledge and continuous prediction of soil permeability changes and soil porosity have been very costly; yet, no concrete comprehensive concept and results have been realized. The need for cost effectiveness in the prediction of soluble pollutants’ mobility and behavior in the soil is imperative in this computational modeling era where complex problems are numerically analyzed and simulated. This paper focuses on two dimensional modelling of water soluble pollutants through soil using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach and adapted Navier-Stokes equations for porous flow. The model is used to simulate flow of water soluble pollutants in the soil within the laminar flow regime and to examine the dispersion of water soluble pollutants through soil layers at various Reynolds numbers. A code was developed and used to simulate the model and simulated results validated qualitatively against experimental results. The dispersion pattern of the dye used was then physically examined at various times and the results compared. It was found that all the flow patterns of the experiments were comparable to the simulated results. The lessons learned from this study, recommendations and the potential contributions to future models in pollutant mobility and dispersion in the soil and groundwater are discussed herein.
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